Static dry mechanism for a clothes dryer



Nov. 19, 1957 L. v. BUCK STATIC DRY MECHANISM FOR A CLOTHES DRYER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 27, 1954.

Nov. 19, 1957 L. v. BUCK STATIC DRY MECHANISM FOR A CLOTHES DRYER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 27, 1954 m 951mm Nov. 19, 1957 L. v. BUCK STATIC DRY MECHANISM FOR A CLOTHES DRYER 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 2'7, '1954 Iii/67 227" United States Patent STATIC DRY MECHANISM FOR A CLOTHES DRYER Leo V. Buck, Efiingham, Ill., assignor to Borg-Warner Corporation, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Application December 27, 1954, Serial No. 477,825

3 Claims. (Cl. 34-91) This invention relates, in general, to laundry apparatus, and has particular reference to a mechanical control means manually operable by the user for selectively stopping the rotation of the clothes dryer cylinder in order to afford drying of fabrics by maintaining the cylinder stationary or tumbling the fabrics by permitting the cylinder to revolve.

Otherwise stated, the instant invention is concerned with a mechanical control means for a clothes dryer cylinder adapted for advantageous incorporation in a domestic or household dryer of the character completely disclosed in my copending patent application, Serial No. 424,318, filed April 20, 1954, and entitled Automatic Drying Apparatus, and which is designed for effective operation in drying of even the daintiest fabrics.

It is well known that certain fabrics are not conducive to tumbling in the conventional revolving cylinder type dryer. Moreover, certain fabrics cannot withstand the high temperatures normally employed in conventional dryers of this general class. Furthermore, in order to facilitate the drying of fabrics and particularly fabrics which have been washed by a conventional washing ma chine or by hand, it is desirable not only to remove the surplus water from the fabrics, but it is also desirable to further dry the clothes by circulating air thereover and therethrough, where the air so circulated may be warmed by a heater or may be of room temperature.

Accordingly, an important object and accomplishment of the present invention is to provide means including a selector whereby the user may, at his election pass heated air or air of room temperature through the dryer.

A further important object and accomplishment of the invention is to provide a clothes dryer of the type hereinbefore described and having incorporated therein means whereby the user may selectively rotate the drum to tumble the clothes or cause said drum to be held stationary to effect a so-called static drying, with a further choice of passing heated air on through the cylinder.

In connection with the above, another important object and accomplishment of the invention is to provide a dryer having incorporated therein conveniently accessible means, whereby the user may selectively cause the drum to rotate or hold the drum stationary.

In one of its aspects, the present invention contemplates a clothes dryer having incorporated therein air moving means directly associated with the rotatable drum, the air moving means comprising a relatively large fan assembly driven by the same driving mechanism which drives .the drum and operable to cause the passage of an unusually large amount of air through the drum for effectively wiping the clothes contained therein thus efficiently removing moisture from the clothes.

Heretofore, dryers of the type contemplated by this invention employed relatively high temperatures with a relatively small amount of air flow to effect drying of fabrics contained in the dryer. Theserelatively high tem 'peratu-res provided not only dangers of fire during their "ice operation but damage to dainty fabrics and possible burning of the hands of the user during certain opera-1 tions of the dryer.

In order to effectively eliminate aforesaid dangers, this invention contemplates a dryer having relatively low operating temperatures ranging from degrees to degrees, and further contemplates the provision of means to cause passage of a relatively large volume of air through the cylinder under pressure and constantly away from the heating means whereby to eliminate hazards and dangers of firing of the fabrics contained in the drum.

Additional objects, features and advantages of the invention disclosed herein will be apparent to persons skilled in the art after the construction and operation are understood from the Within description.

It is preferred to accomplish the various objects of this invention and to practice the same in substantially the manner as hereinafter more fully described, and as more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof and where- Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a clothes dryer embodying features of the present invention with the front door panel removed and certain other parts thereof broken away to show the arrangement and disposition of a drum lock with which the present invention is con cerned;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of Fig. 1 taken along the plane of the line 22 thereof; I

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view, somewhat enlarged, of the upperlefthand portion of Fig. 2 showing in detail the drum lock contemplated by the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of Fig. 3 the plane of the line 4-4 thereof; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the drum lock in the operated position. i

The drawings are to be understood to be more 0 less of a schematic character for the purpose: of illustrating and disclosing a typical or preferred form of the improvements contemplated herein, and in the drawings like reference characters identify the same parts in the several views.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention depicted in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, the dryer contemplated by this invention comprises, in general, the component assemblies shown and described in said copending application, and are referenced herein by letters as follows: a cabinet A as shown in Fig. 1; a clothes drum disposed within the cabinet A and rotatable on a substantially horizontal axis and effective to tumble the fabrics disposed therein, the drum B being mounted for pivotal movement by means of a universal joint 9, said joint being fully disclosed in Fig. 7 of said copending application; an air moving fan assembly C axially disposedwith retaken in spect to the drum B and effective to cause a relatively large volume of air to pass through said drum B for contact with the fabrics disposed therein for absorption of moisture whereupon said moisture is conveyed outwardly and away from the machine with said air; a driving mechanism D effective to causerotation of said drum B and said air moving fan assembly C; a static dry control B associated with said drum B and effective to control rotation or nonrotation of said drum responsive to manual operation of said static dry control means by the user as desired; an air heating assembly F over and through which ambient air is drawn by said air moving fan assembly C effective to raise the temperature of said ambient air before entry thereof into said drum B whereby said air will be more effective to absorbmoisture in the fabrics containedin-said' drum B a linttrap assembly G effective to filter out lint contained in the air passing from said clothes drum before it is discharged from the dryer to provide substantially lint-free air at: the discharge open ing's air discharge ports providinga ventsystem; and a timer mechanism J adapted to regulate the operation of'tliedryerwith respect to a selected drying time and permitting selection by the user of drying by room temperature air orby heated air.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2 there is shown a drying'ziapparatus of substantially thesame construction and design: as: that disclosed in said: copending. application. As isiapparentiin Fig. 1 adrum B is supported forirotation upon an-idler pulley as well as driven pulley 11; These pulleys-engage a' tire 12' secured to the outer periphery of the: drum B as is more readily apparent in Fig.9..

Since the present'invention' is not concerned with. the preciseconstruction and arrangement of the various components ofthe dryingzdevice, it is .not' deemed necessary tovdescribe-tli'em in great detail. Accordingly, only those portions of' the: drying: device which are adjacent to and cooperaterwith a. drum lock, indicated generally by the referencemumeral E; will berdescribed in detail. lt-is to be understood that the details of construction of an automatiesdryer and/or. its associated parts may be modified tosuit any particularconditions or method of manufacture anditis notcontemplatedthat the present invention be limitedzto-the construction and arrangement of elements shown except where such construction and arrangement deals specifically with the invention disclosed herein.

Generally thepresent invention relates to a lever device mounted on the front'panel of the dryer immediately inside the. panel door for locking the drum B in a stationary position; Operation of the drumlocking device willcause theforward end of the. drum (left side as viewed in Fig. 2) to be lifted off driving pulley D thus holdingthe drum stationary.

Having thus described by way of example a possible adaptation ofzthe=-mechanical stop means for a clothes dryer drum and having descn'bedthe general environmentv surrounding the adaptation, the specific construction-and functiomof the parts of'said locking-device when mounted in an". automatic. clothes dryer. will now be described in' detail v Referring now to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 .there is shown afcircular. segmentalebracket:member. 13 having a U- shaped cross-section secured to the front panel. of the clothesrdryer' by. means. of screws 14.. Among: other functions the bracket 13- serves asa: mountingfor. an incandescent lamp indicated at16 for lightingthe interior ofuthedrum. Disposed between-the bracket 13 anda flange17 (Fig. 3).formed integral with afront panel'18 of. the dryer cabinet is an annular. gasket. indicated by the reference numeral 19'. As is more apparent in Fig- 3ithe annular gasket 19acts tomake a tight seal between the .panel 18-.ofv thedryer and the door panel 21. As shown and described in said copending application an annularfe'lt seal 22 is disposed aroundthe upper side of. the. flange Hand is formed with a slot 23v (Figs. 4 and 5,) for receiving flange-member 24 formed on the rotatable drum B. Secured to the under side. of the flange 17 by means of. a sheet metal'screw 26v is a U-shaped spring clip 27. An arm integral with thespringclip. 27. passes through a slot in the flange 17 and acts to maintain the position of the clip 27.

Referring now to Fig; 4 there is shown a. crank- 28 heldwithin the leaves of the spring clip: 27 by the engagenient of a pimple 29 therewith.

Adepending leg 30 ofthe crank 28 projects through an elongated slot.31 formed inthebracket 13. while-a head 32Iprojects-through a slot .33.formed-in the flange 17. In Figs. 3, 4, and 5 it is apparent that a feltseal 22, is formed With a cutoutportion 34 to. allow free movement of-thehead 32 and to permit the. head 32-.to engage the under side of the flange 24 in a manner and for a. purpose. to be. described hereinafter. The gasket 19 has a similarly cut out portion as at 36 to provide clearance for the spring clip 27 and the crank 28.

Surrounding the slot 33 and suitably tack welded to the flange 17 is an apertured plate 37. The plate 37 acts as a bearing surface for. a. laterally extending ear 38 formed integral with the head32"when the ear is in the position shownin Fig. 5. Suitably secured to: the upper side of the ear 38 is a shoe 395 The shoe 39 may be molded of plastic material such as compounds of nylon,

The operation of'the drumlocking devicerwill nowbe:

In Fig. 4 the lockin'g'device is shown in' the".-

The handle. 41? is held in: placei described. un'operated position. parallel to the bottom of the bracket 13 by the' frictiont existing between the handle'and the leg 30. The crank 28 is held:in the position shown by the engagementof. the pimple. 29 with the spring clip 27 so that the head 32 isclearofthe drum fiange24. Rotation of the handle 41 to'the right (Fig. 4), will cause thecrank 28 to be" withdrawn from the spring clip 27 and as this occurs, the ear 38-will ride up on and make pivoting contact' withthe plate 37. Continued rotation of the handle-41- to the right. will cause the heel 48 of the shoe 39to engage the under sideof the-flange24. When the handle 41 is rotatedto the position shown in Fig. 5, the drum' locking:device has been fully operated andthe shoe 39 byvirtue of its engagement with the flange 24 will have" raised the forward end .of the drum B clear of the driving: pulley D (Fig; l), the-universal joint- 9 permittingth'eforwardend of the dnlm who raised off of the driving.

pulley. Since the flange 24- is received. within thefislot 23 formed in the' felt gasket 22,.the gasket 22 will be raised slightly'or ride with the flange 24 as-is; apparent in Fig. 5. While the drum-B is held-in the raisedpositionandout of engagement with the drive pulley D, the drurn'will remain-stationary. Furthermore, it is to be particularly noted that while the drumis held stationary,

the drive pulley D andthe fanC may be rotated by, the dryer drive mechanism without disturbingthe stationary attitude. of the drum.

After operating the drum locking device :thehandle .41 may be further. rotated to the rig-htas viewed in Fig.5 until the :handle assumes the dottedrlineposition shown. therein. In this manner therhandle maybe rotated-clear of the opening to thedryenthus eliminating anyobstruction in. the opening.

It is anticipatedthat the arm 41 may be formedof metal or plastic materialand that it be. so designed that when. it is in the unoperated position (Fig, 4) .the handle will intimately contact or be. partially recessedin the bracket 13and whenin the operated position (Fig. 5) the handle will intimately contact the .annular gasket 19. so. as nottoobstru'ctthe introduction or withdrawal of laundry in eitherposition.

Consequently,.it is to be noted that by virtue ofthe provision of relative motion between the handle-41 and the crank 28 almeans has been provided for casting, the handle 41v to a relatively, obscure position .afterthe drum locking'device has been. placedeither in its operated or unoperatedfposition.

From the foregoing specification and "drawings it is" apparent that an improved drum locking 'device has been disclosed which is advantageous for the following reasons:

(1) The. device .is..read ly operable uponwopeningathe door leading to the interior of the drying device.

(2) The structure of the elements thereof are simple in design and lend themselves readily to mass production methods. I

Having thus disclosed and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is anticipated that many modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a laundry apparatus having a rotatable cylindrical basket pivotally mounted within a casing and including a driving pulley for engaging and rotating said basket, said casing having means defining an access opening in one end wall thereof through which articles may be disposed into said basket, said basket having means defining an access opening in one end thereof, one of said means overlying the other of said means, a lever mounted upon the casing adjacent said access openings and operable .to engage both said means and pivot said basket to disengage said basket from said driving pulley.

2. In a laundry apparatus having a rotatable cylindrical basket pivotally mounted within a casing and including a a driving pulley for engaging and rotating said basket, said casing having means defining an access opening in one end wall thereof through which articles maybe disposed into said basket, said basket having means defining an access opening in one end thereof, one of said means being adjacent the other of said means, a lever mounted upon the casing adjacent said access openings and operable to engage both said means and pivot said basket to disengage said basket from said driving pulley.

3. In a laundry apparatus having a basket rotatable about an axis and pivotally mounted within a casing and including a driving pulley for engaging and rotating said basket, said casing having an access opening in one end thereof defined by a flange, said basket also having an access opening in one end thereof defined by a flange, said last named flange overlying said first named flange and being radially spaced therefrom, lever means in engagement with both said flanges and adapted to move said basket away from said casing flange and. away from said driving pulley whereby said basket is disengaged from said driving pulley.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

